Canadians thrived in the tough conditions at the Chamonix World Cup Downhill on the Piste Verte run in France Jan. 8.
Whistler native and former Squamish resident Jeff Hume placed sixth for the first World Cup points of his career, and rookie Manuel Osborne produced the fastest middle split to finish 14th in his first World Cup race. Both Canadian Ski Team members reside in Whistler, and are members of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club.
Hume, the ninth skier out of the start hut, looked amazed when he crossed the finish line and looked up at the jumbo screen, which showed he had taken the lead with a time of 1:57:42. The Canadian was eventually ousted from top position by Austrian Mario Scheiber but that did little to diminish his enthusiasm for his first World Cup points.
"I'm so happy," Hume said. "I got to stand in the leader box at the World Championships two years ago for about a minute and a half. I got to stand there for 15-20 minutes today, it was great."
Hume, who'd been struggling with his form this season, and had been unable to crack the top 30, was looking for a good result to keep his confidence high.
While Hume currently lives in Whistler, in his teen years he and his family lived in Squamish. From 1993 until 1999, the Hume family lived in the Garibaldi Highlands, where they would commute to the ski hill on the weekends so the kids could take part in the race program at the Whistler Mountain Ski Club.
